Sunland-Tujunga Voters For Paul Krekorian

S-T Voters Blog is Now Closed!

2009-12-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for helping to make Paul Krekorian the new representative for CD2!
We will leave the blog up as an archive for the time being.
Happy Holidays to All, and we wish Paul the best of luck in his new role!

PAUL WINS IN A LANDSLIDE!

2009-12-09T00:05:00.001-08:00

Paul Krekorian is our new City Council representative for Council District 2!
All the votes are counted. Paul Krekorian wins in landslide victory 56.5 to 43.4. Congrats to our new Councilman and especially to the team - Jeremy, Karo, Areen and the rest!

Volunteer to help Get Out The Vote

2009-12-06T17:58:00.001-08:00

We are down to the wire. If you've ever thought of volunteering your time to campaign for your candidate, NOW is the time. It's GOTV time!

YOU can help elect Paul by making phone calls or talking to people in your neighborhood. The local campaign office will be operating full steam ahead through Tuesday, December 8!

FOOTHILLS CAMPAIGN OFFICE
10019 Commerce Ave
Tujunga

Saturday, Sunday and Monday: 10:00AM-9:00PM
Tuesday: 7:00AM-8:00PM

You can let Matt know when you are available. If you let him know in advance, he will have a cell phone for you to use. Call Matt (831)524-0916 OR email him MATT@HALEMAIL.INFO

Jewish Leaders Condemn Chris Essel Mailer

2009-12-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - Following a string of negative pieces of mail sent out by Christine Essel - ads that alleged Krekorian is anti-semitic, misogynist and hateful - outraged community leaders responded in full force. Tamar Galatzan, former City Council candidate and former Associate Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, issued a stirring condemnation of Essel's piece. On Saturday, Rep. Brad Sherman, Assemblyman Mike Feuer and Los Angeles City Council member Paul Koretz will appear in the campaign office to speak out against the mailer.

To read the rest of this story, go HERE.

Sunland-Tujunga leaders speak about Paul Krekorian

2009-12-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Chris Essel may have over a Million $$ in donations from special interests,and the IBEW, to run ads on CNN and KFI, but Paul has the support of the community. We all got together just yesterday and made this spot for him.

Essel's Ties to Home Depot Run Deep

2009-11-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

Recent revelations regarding Chris Essel's donor list and time spent as head of the Central City Association have got more than a few local residents concerned about the possibility of her winning this special election.

A review at the LA City Ethics page shows a substantial number of donations from Home Depot's attorneys, Latham & Watkins.

One of the biggest fundraisers for Chris Essel (he recently bragged that he has helped her raise 50% of her funding) is none other than Rick Purcell. Mr.Purcell, if you recall is the gentleman that brought us Canyon Hills, and tried to bring in Home Depot. He is now an employee of Consensus Planning, Home Depot's PR firm.

During Chris Essel's tenure as chairperson of the Central City Association, the group that fought on Home Depot's behalf during the Sunland-Tujunga battle, she worked with Cindy Starrett, from Latham & Watkins. Ms. Starrett served as chairperson of the Land Use Committee for the CCA. With Cindy Starrett at her side, Chris developed her position in favor of SB1818 (reduces affordable housing), and financial disclosure for the Neighborhood Councils. Cindy Starrett, in case you have forgotten, was the lead attorney for Home Depot and can be seen in many videos arguing for a Home Depot in S-T.

With all these connections and deep pocket donations from some of Sunland-Tujunga's worst enemies, Chris Essel would be a disastrous choice as City Council member. We just spent the last 4 years fighting Home Depot and the special interests from downtown. Let's not put ourselves through that again!

Vote, and tell everyone you know: Paul Krekorian on Dec 8th!

Humane Society Of United States Endorses Paul Krekorian

2009-11-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend,

The special election for Los Angeles City Council, 2nd District is on Tuesday, December 8, and advocates of animal protection need to know who is standing up for their interests. The Humane Society Legislative Fund is the non-partisan political arm of the humane movement, and we want you to know that Paul Krekorian is a friend of animal protection.

Be a part of the growing humane voting bloc by supporting Paul Krekorian for City Council in the special election on Tuesday, December 8.

While representing the 43rd district in the California state Assembly, Krekorian has been a leading champion of animal protection legislation and has helped move animal protection bills over the finish line to be enacted into law.

In 2008, he authored and passed AB 2098 which strengthened the state law on “downer” livestock and prohibits auctions and slaughter plants from selling meat from animals who are too sick or injured to stand or walk on their own. He also supported Proposition 2, the California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, to phase out the extreme confinement of breeding pigs, egg-laying hens, and veal calves in crates and cages so small the animals cannot even turn around and stretch their limbs.

Please share this message with your friends and family and urge them to vote for Paul Krekorian on December 8, too.

Thanks for all you do for animals!

Sincerely,

Mike Markarian
President
Humane Society Legislative Fund

Today at Paul's HQ

2009-11-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

S-T residents Dan McManus and Joe Barrett are seen at a round-table meeting and BBQ hosted by Paul Krekorian today at his campaign office in North Hollywood. Paul had invited community leaders from around CD2 to discuss the election and the ongoing misinformation coming from the Essel Camp. Also a big topic was the lawsuit filed by the DWP union (IBEW) to overturn a 20 year old ethics law in order for them to give even more money to Chris Essel. A Judge wisely tossed out that effort last week. Everyone got a good laugh out of Essel's latest flier attacking Paul for raising a million dollars. What the flier doesn't say is that Paul raised a million dollars during the course of four separate campaigns over the years!! Chris has raised $1.5 Million in just the last 6 months for a City Council seat. Somebody wants the developers friend, Essel, in office very badly!

Letter from Paul to DWP regarding Station Fire

2009-11-26T16:39:00.000-08:00

One way that Paul has impressed the voters in S-T is by his active presence and participation in the community during this campaign. While we have seen very little of Chris Essel (except for her 5-7 fliers per day in the mail), Paul has opened an office on Commerce, and attended several community meetings. He is very concerned about the potential debris flow damage from the Station Fire, and is already taking an active role in seeking protective measures for the community.

The following letter was sent today to Greg Bartz at the DWP by Paul Krekorian.

Subject: Station Fire impacts on Sunland Tujunga community

Dear Mr. Bartz:

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm writing this on the holiday, and I realize you won't receive it until Monday, but I hope the holiday weekend was an enjoyable one for you and your family.

As you may know, I am one of the two candidates for Council in the Second District. The next Councilmember will not be sworn in until sometime after the December 8 election results are certified. Unfortunately, the District is facing very urgent needs right now that cannot wait until the new member can take charge; and, there are significant concerns about which the new member will need to hit the ground running from Day One.

Among the most urgent of these issues is the aftermath of the Station Fire and its impacts on the Sunland-Tujunga community. I know that there have been some steps taken in preparation for the inevitable debris flow problems that will come with the first rain. I've been keeping up to date on the progress of preparations by a number of departments, but I'd like to know what steps DWP has taken in preparation for the mudslides and debris problems. I assume there will be a risk of power outages and possibly water supply issues resulting from significant slides, large-scale debris movement and flooding resulting from storm drain failure. I would appreciate your letting me know what assessment DWP has made of these or other potential risks, and what preparations the Department is making in anticipation of them.

Also, the area has been facing significant, unusual and unfair rate impacts resulting from the fire. Throughout the days that this horrendous fire raged adjacent to their neighborhoods, homeowners in the area struggled to save their homes from embers by watering down their roofs and landscape. In the period after the fire, many were impacted by the mess resulting from the firefighting operations, also requiring vast amounts of additional personal water use. And even today, residents of the entire area are still dealing with ash and unusual dust from the fire area, resulting in still more water usage.

I have not yet heard of any process by which DWP addresses residents' extraordinary water usage during, and resulting from, natural disasters like this. I would be interested in hearing from you at your earliest convenience about this issue. I believe strongly that residents who have already suffered so much impact from the fire itself should not now also have to suffer the impacts of exorbitant water bills, including even moving into higher rate tiers.

I look forward to hearing from you on these two issues, and I look forward to working closely with you to serve the interests of the people of Sunland-Tujunga as the community continues to recover from this terrible disaster. Thank you in advance for your anticipated assistance.

Very truly yours,

Paul Krekorian
Candidate for City Council, Second District

Judge upholds ethics laws to prevent Essel from overturning LAs clean money reforms

2009-11-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

United States Federal District Court Judge Dean Pregerson has tossed out the lawsuit filed by Brian Darcy's "Working Californians", on behalf of CD2 Candidate Christine Essel. The lawsuit sought to overturn a 24 year old ethics law that works to curtail undue financial influence in City elections. "Working Californians" had tried to frame the lawsuit as a free speech issue, but the Judge saw otherwise.

The lawsuit had been called "frivolous" by the Krekorian campaign. A spokesman for the Krekorian campaign expressed his delight at the ruling, and said that this was a "real blow" to the Essel campaign, and her army of lobbyist supporters.

You can read the entire court ruling HERE.

Nina Royal Latest S-T Leader to Endorse Paul Krekorian

2009-11-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

Long time resident and highly respected S-T activist and community leader, Nina Royal, has become the latest to join the rapidly growing list of S-T Voters for Paul Krekorian. You can read her announcement at the OurLA blog.

Paul Krekorian Will Preserve the Character of Sunland-Tujunga

2009-11-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Paul will fight for our community. He understands that we are a unique community with a unique history, and he knows it's worth protecting. He has promised to work closely with the community to prevent over development that is out of step with our needs. He understands that we feel threatened by out-of-control mansionization that is rapidly changing the character of our neighborhood.

For several years, Paul has been an active supporter to Save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course and protect our open space. He has been endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters.

Paul has taken the time to attend our local meetings. He attended the Flood and Debris Flow Preparation meeting that was held on November 17. By the way, if you didn't have a chance to attend the meeting, you can access important info at this website:
http://dpw.lacounty.gov/care/

As Assemblymember, Paul and his staff spent hours and hours walking the district to talk with people about their concerns. We're looking forward to a Councilmember who will take the time to talk with us and encourage that type of communication. Paul has already started making important connections and relationships by opening a field office on Commerce Avenue.

A Call To Action

2009-11-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

Don’t be fooled by Christine Essel’s numerous fancy mailers.
Don’t believe it when Christine Essel tries to say she is not a City insider. Just because she hasn’t held an elected office, doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the downtown insider connections. She has never been voted in by the general public, she has been appointed!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gray Davis, Richard Riordan, and Antonio Villaraigosa are among the politicians that have appointed Essel to governmental boards and commissions for the past 30 years. Essel has worked to promote the interests of the Downtown business establishment through cozy relationships with developers and lobbyists while holding leadership positions on the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Central City Association.

This is shocking!
Essel currently holds an important position as Immediate Past Chair on the Executive Board of the powerful downtown lobbying organization, the Central City Association. It has come to our attention that Cindy Starrett, the attorney from Latham & Watkins, that represented Home Depot, is the Chair of the Land Use Committee of the Central City Association. For at least 5 years, Christine Essel and Cindy Starrett have both held leadership positions on the CCA, during the time our community was fighting to keep Home Depot from opening their store here.

Essel has had numerous opportunities to disclose this information with the community during the campaign, yet she has not come forward with this information. We had to dig up this juicy little fact all by ourselves. Why wouldn’t Christine Essel have brought this up herself? What is she hiding?
http://www.ccala.org/index.asp

What Ethics?
Chris Essel claims to have big ideas for ethics reform, yet Essel’s friends, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power powerful IBEW union, “Working Californians”, is suing the City of Los Angeles to CHANGE an ETHICS law that has been on the law books for decades. This lawsuit is an attempt to help buy Chris Essel a seat on the City Council. That’s right. A lawsuit was filed in Federal Court this month, only weeks before voting day. Chris’ big idea is to sue the City rather than follow the rules. By the way, this law suit will cost the City of Los Angeles and the Ethics Commission a lot of cash - all for the benefit of Ms. Essel. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/dwp-employee-union-sues-la-ethics-commission-to-block-fundraising-limit.html

The IBEW has already poured $80,000 into Chris Essel’s campaign. The DWP and the IBEW are the ones who tried to pass Measure B, the bad solar power initiative that failed last March.
http://votenomeasureb.com/

Look, we cannot elect someone to represent our community who has ties this deep to the very entities we have fought for years. It would be like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Chris Essel has received contributions from major developers, law firms, including Latham & Watkins, out of state interests, and virtually no one from CD2. One of her major fundraisers is Rick Purcell, the man who brought us the Canyon Hills Development. She even owns a substantial amount of stock in the Home Depot Corporation.

This election is coming up fast. Please help get out the message. Let's not let the downtown interests put their favorite puppet in charge of Sunland-Tujunga. Vote for Paul Krekorian on Dec 8th!